Digital Accident Tactical Squad
by Oreo Stories
Summary: Marcus Damon is the greatest fighter to ever live, unchallenged by any human. One day, he stumbles across a talking dinosaur fleeing from a secret agent, and his life, ego, and strength are suddenly flung forwards. A rewrite of Digimon Savers.
1. Chapter 1

**Digimon does not belong to me.**

* * *

Sirens blared through a small room, two women furiously typing away at computers while a man stood in front of his own. A woman's voice came in over the intercom:

" _I am in pursuit of Raptor One, but subject has proven to be more powerful than anticipated. Clearance level two is requested."_

"Not yet. Your mission is to capture and contain- clearance level two would be too public. For now, herd him into an uninhabited area and await backup."

" _Roger."_

* * *

It was another day for Marcus Damon- he had just knocked fifteen punks flat on their asses in thirty seconds, leaving them all groaning in pain.

Now he was bored.

It was really too bad- they didn't even put up a fight. None of them were even trained, they were just thugs who waved around sticks to intimidate people.

He supposed that was the curse of being as good as he was- nothing human could even challenge him anymore.

There were some sirens blaring in the distance, but he ignored them, as well as the warning about the gas leak. He didn't really care, he could handle a bit of toxic gasses or fire. Besides, the air smelled fine.

Then, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed something. It was a giant lizard standing on two legs, with a ridiculously huge mouth and red… wristbands? It was hard to tell exactly what the red strips of cloth wrapped around its talons were.

Regardless, it looked like a miniature T-Rex. That was awesome.

"What in the hell even are you?" Marcus muttered to himself as he approached the creature.

"Excuse you?" it muttered, its voice a high-pitched growl.

"Woah, you can talk?!" Marcus couldn't help but be impressed- not only was it a miniature T-Rex, but it was a _talking_ miniature T-Rex. Sweet.

"Yeah, I can talk all right. And if you don't scram right now, you're dead," said the dinosaur, baring its giant fangs at the young man.

"Hey, I don't know who you are, but you're standing in the middle of my turf."

The dinosaur merely growled.

"This is my training ground! I'm the greatest fighter who ever lived, you try and cross me and you're dead!"

"You, the greatest fighter ever? Boy, you're really full of yourself, huh? You're no different from any other human, all talk and no action. I'd tear you apart!"

"Hey, keep it up and I'll knock you out like I did these guys!"

"What'd ya do, just talk 'em all to sleep?"

Then a woman's voice echoed out from behind the two.

"Hey, you! Stop right there! You can't fight that creature, he's too dangerous!"

Marcus glanced over, noticing what appeared to be a female police officer clad in a pink uniform.

"Look toots, the only dangerous thing here is me! I don't need some meter maid obsessed with pink telling me what's dangerous!"

"That's right!" chimed in the dinosaur. "This is between him and me!"

The woman was very confused.

"This is a fight between real men, so stay out of it!" cried the teenager.

"This is your last warning!" cried the woman.

Marcus and the dinosaur growled at each other one last time before charging. Punches, kicks, and swipes were thrown over and over and over, neither able to get in a good hit. Then they both threw a punch at the same time, Marcus's fist and the dinosaur's claws smashing against the other's cheek. They were both thrown back by the sheer force of the blow, but neither one stayed down, quickly getting back up before resuming their fight.

The woman couldn't help but gape. This teenage boy was equally as powerful as a Rookie Digimon capable of bending steel bars. Just what _was_ he?

* * *

The setting sun illuminated the two combatants, now lying on the ground, covered in sweat, panting, and leaning against each other for support.

"You're… pretty good," said the Dinosaur. "For a human."

"You're pretty good yourself," replied Marcus. "I haven't been this tired since I was a little kid!"

The dinosaur slowly raised one arm towards the sky despite his aches and bruises protesting.

"Let's call it a draw."

Marcus clasped the dinosaur's claw with his own hand.

"I'm Agumon," said the Dinosaur.

"Marcus. Marcus Damon!"

The two slowly sat up, smiles on their faces.

"It's a pleasure to meet ya, buddy!" said Agumon.

"Buddy, huh? Yeah, I like the sound of that!" replied Marcus.

"But don't get any ideas," added Agumon. "I'm not just gonna blindly follow your orders or anything. We're equals, so that means we treat each other like equals."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The tender moment was interrupted by the policewoman, who had been watching them the whole time. Marcus had admittedly forgotten about her. Then she pulled out a white device of some sort before crying, "Lalamon, realize!" In a flash of pink light and a swirl of square blocks of light, something emerged from it. It was a giant pink-and-green cherry blossom with eyes and a propeller as well as stumpy little limbs.

"So, are you gonna come quietly, or do I have to use force?" said the woman who was clearly not a police officer.

"Who's she talking to, you or me?" muttered Marcus.

"Don't let them take me back, please! If they do, they'll destroy me for sure!" cried Agumon.

Marcus couldn't let them hurt his new buddy. With a grunt, he lifted Agumon onto his back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" cried the woman.

"I've never met anyone who can actually challenge me like this. Now he's my friend, too, and I ain't lettin you kill him," said Marcus. With a grunt of pain from his aching legs, Marcus ran as fast as he could. The pink flower thing then shot seeds at them that exploded on contact- they stung like hell, but only a few actually hit him.

"Let me handle this, buddy," said Agumon. Flames slowly built in his mouth before he loosed them, spewing a fireball at the flower. It let out another spray of seeds, but the two attacks exploded, creating a giant cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Marcus was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Police sirens blared out through the city, while a lone tower stood silent. Inside, however, was not so silent.

"I gotta hand it to ya pal, that was a great escape!"

"Thanks Agumon," said Marcus. "But there's one thing that worries me. _Who are we running away from?!_ What even are you, anyway? Where did you come from?"

"Gee, I dunno," said Agumon. "I've never really been outside until today. Those guys always kept me locked up, ever since I was born. Please don't let them take me back there."

Marcus grunted to himself before standing up. "What am I getting myself into this time?" he asked rhetorically. "It doesn't matter who or what you are, you can talk, and that means you're a person. They shouldn't be able to keep you locked up your whole life."

"Oh, thank you!" cried Agumon. "I'll never ask for anything else, I swear!" His stomach then growled rather loudly. "Except food. I'm starving!"

"Suck it up like a man!" said Marcus. "I'm hungry too, but I'm not complaining."

"But I'm a growing boy!" cried Agumon, who began to wail. Marcus tried to make him shut up, but it didn't work.

"I haven't eaten since yesterday! They only fed me once a day, and I just spent hours fighting you!" The dinosaur's open maw began swirling about as he stumbled, before he accidentally fell towards Marcus, who promptly hit him on the head.

"Hey, I ain't on the menu!" he yelled.

"I wasn't gonna eat you, I just can't stand straight I'm so hungry!"

Marcus couldn't help but give a wry smile. "Alright, fine, I'll go grab you some food. But next time, don't flash me your teeth when you're complaining about how hungry you are! Wait here, I'll be back soon."

"Thanks, buddy!" said Agumon.

"I mean it, stay put! Don't let anyone see or hear you!"

* * *

There was thankfully a convenience store nearby, filled with tons of prepackaged food, which Marcus loaded up on. He didn't know what Agumon could eat, so he got a little bit of everything for them to share, including plenty of meat. Given the size of those fangs, Marcus congratulated himself on being so smart.

Then, as the cashier began ringing him up, a familiar voice called out, "And, uh, add this too, please," adding a pudding cup to his total. It was the woman from before, now in her civvies. "Is that okay? After all, you have plenty of cash thanks to this afternoon, Marcus Damon."

* * *

The two had found a park bench to talk. The woman ate her pudding with appreciative little moans, talking about how she loved it because of nostalgia.

"You owe me a buck," said Marcus. "That money was for my family."

"So animals are now family for you?" she mocked.

"As it so happens, yes. That one is a good friend in need, and my friends are family too."

"You acting like an RPG hero aside, I'll strike you a deal: I'll pay you back fifty times as much if you tell me where Raptor One is."

"Raptor One? What's that? I've never heard of it. And besides, I'd never tell you anything even if I did know. I don't take kindly to people who keep others in cages their whole lives."

"Well, in that case, I'll have to take you in for witness interrogation, Mister Damon."

"Hey, how do you know my name, anyway?"

"I know everything about you. Marcus Damon, born April 2nd in Tokyo, Blood Type B, Otori High School, ninth grade. Your father disappeared ten years ago, and you now live with your mother Sarah and your little sister Christie, who looks up to you even though you're a punk who beats up other people and takes their money. Do I paint an accurate picture?"

"Who _are_ you?"

The woman held up a badge with the word DATS written on it. "I'm special agent Yoshino Fujieda. I'm with the Digital Accident Tactical Squad, or DATS for short."

"What do you do?"

"Our job is to control creatures known as Digimon, who come here from a place known as the digital world. We protect the general public from them."

"Oh, sure, because people totally need protecting from a little baby digimon. I don't care who you are or who you work for, you're nothing but a bunch of jerks. Where the hell do you get off jailing someone from birth?!"

"Digimon are highly dangerous creatures. Most of them would go on a rampage."

"So that justifies putting a baby behind bars his whole life?!"

"Digimon don't have babies! They don't die, either- they're reborn as an egg. Raptor One is no different. He's still the same monster he always was. Or did you forget the kaiju attacks of 1999 like everyone else tries to?"

"Who cares if he used to be someone else? You said it yourself, Agumon was reborn. He's not like that, and he never was, because that was a different person!"

Yoshino could see that she was losing him. In a last-ditch effort, she said whatever came to mind to make him comply.

"Digimon can't eat regular food, they need special food. Food that only we can make. If you don't come with me, he'll starve to death."

Marcus screwed his eyes shut for a moment before replying. "Okay, fine. But I'm still not bringing him with me, not unless you and your boss can promise me he won't be imprisoned again for someone else's crimes."

Yoshie only nodded in agreement. She couldn't really promise that, but it was also the only way she could get him to comply.

* * *

Marcus and Yoshino walked into the main headquarters of DATS, the former wowed by all the monitors and the occasional digimon performing some task.

"Fujieda reporting back!" said Yoshino to an imposing man in a blue trenchcoat with a white ferret or weasel around his neck, its body ringed with gold.

"So, you're Marcus Damon. My name is Commander Sampson. The DATS team welcomes you."

Then, to Marcus's surprise, the weasel around Sampson's neck began to talk in a smooth voice.

"Interesting that this is the boy that fought Raptor One, because nothing indicates that he can fight at that level."

"Hey, what's with the talking scarf?" said Marcus. Said talking scarf took offense to that, but Sampson scratched his partner's head before replying.

"This is Kudamon. He's my digimon partner."

"Each human member of DATS is teamed up with their own digimon," said Yoshie, her flower thing floating into her arms. "This is mine, Lalamon. We here at DATS team up with digimon to handle digimon crimes."

A turtle-like digimon walked up with a cup of tea, offering it to Marcus, but he still didn't exactly trust them, so he declined.

"I've had enough of this nonsense! I have someone waiting for me to get back, so let's get on with it. Say what you have to say and stop wasting my time!"

"Calm down, don't get angry," said Sampson. "Whether Raptor One is saved or not depends on you. We are currently in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. The wall between the human world and the digital world is starting to collapse. The reason is unknown, but the fact is that digimon are appearing more frequently in the human world than ever before."

"Our primary objective is to maintain harmony between the human world and the digital world," said Kudamon. "Therefor, renegades like Raptor One must be kept under control."

"Wait a minute, why are you calling him a renegade?" asked Marcus.

"Because, Raptor One has already entered the human world and made contact with human beings, so he can not be allowed to go free."

"Please cooperate," said Sampson. "The future relationship between humans and digimon depends on you returning Raptor One to us."

"Yeah, not interested," said Marcus.

"Why not?"

"Why not?" said Marcus, slamming his drink down on the table, realizing who had given it to him. "Because I don't owe you people a single thing! I don't know about all this 'the future depends on me' stuff, but I do know that Agumon depends on me, and no one has mentioned anything about what he needs! I know he appeared in this world as an egg, so he hasn't even done anything except be born! Maybe his parent wanted a better life for him! Maybe they didn't have a choice! Either way, he's innocent, and you can't punish him for what his parent did! And if he gets into any sort of trouble, I'll claim full responsibility for his actions, but only if you give me some of that special digimon food!"

Suddenly, alarms started blaring and showering the room in red light. One of the girls at the computers said, "Commander, digimon detected in D-59. A hamburger stand is being attacked by an unknown creature!"

"Possibly Raptor One- that's right where I found you, Marcus," said Yoshie.

"Hold it!" said Marcus. "Didn't you say digimon only eat special food? What would Agumon attack a hamburger stand for?"

"You didn't give him anything to eat, right?"

"Only because you stopped me before I could! Which means that he's only attacking out of hunger, which is a crime of passion at most."

"Do you now see why hiding him has created a security breach for all of us? Why digimon are dangerous when left unchecked?" said Kudamon. "We are not like humans- we have no societies or cities. We fend for ourselves, and only obey those more powerful than us. I, and all the digimon here, work together with DATS because we recognize that society is a greater good. Other digimon do not care."

Marcus ran off. Yoshie tried to stop him, but he ignored her. Agumon was either causing trouble or in trouble- either way, someone was gonna be punched.

* * *

The tower was empty. Agumon was gone.

"So _this_ is where you were hiding Raptor One," said Yoshino, having followed Marcus. "A lot of good it did you, because we confirmed it was definitely him who attacked the hamburger stand."

"It's my fault," said Marcus. "I should have returned to him sooner, to give him something to eat and make sure nothing happened to him."

The two stood there in contemplation for a moment before an explosion from outside lit up the room.

"Listen Marcus, this is dangerous, so you wait here," said Yoshino. Unfortunately for her, Marcus had already ran off to the elevator, which closed in her face.

As he ran out the doors and towards the raging fire, Marcus screamed at Agumon. Then he heard his voice- away from the fire.

Agumon's head was stuck in a trashcan. And he was coming from the wrong direction- no way he had caused the fire.

"Agumon?"

"Keep talking Marcus, so I can find you!"

Marcus ran up and pulled the can off of his friend's snout, and Agumon took a deep breath.

"Why'd you run off?" he asked.

"Because, Marcus, I was hungry, and you never came back! I found some old food in this thing. It wasn't very tasty, but I was desperate."

The smoke from the explosions began to clear, revealing a literal giant chicken with a black plume and white feathers tipped with red.

It began kicking cars around, throwing them into nearby buildings. One hit the tower that Yoshie was still climbing down.

"Hey, what is that thing?" asked Agumon.

"I dunno, but I _do_ know that those DATS guys blamed you for what that thing's doing! Let's go, Agumon!" cried Marcus.

The two ran forwards with a battle cry that was drowned out by the chicken's crowing. Marcus climbed it, while Agumon peppered it with fireballs, barely avoiding the chicken's laser eyes.

As Marcus finally reached the monster's neck, it moved to step on Agumon.

"No!" he cried. "Agumon!"

But Agumon was fine, if strained- he was strong enough to hold the whole chicken up, just barely.

"How about I lend you a fist?" cried Marcus. The chicken began to move about to shake him off, but he held firm before striking its neck. As its head leaned back, Yoshie cried out to him, "Hey, what do you think you're doing? That's dangerous!"

"I'm a fighter, and a true fighter is always willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the people he cares about!"

Then the chicken's tail began to glow, and it let out a giant laser from its mouth across the ground. Agumon was caught in the blast, sent flying back. Marcus jumped off and ran to him, crying his name. "Agumon! Agumon!"

As he came to his new friend, the little dinosaur lay still, not hearing Marcus's cries or shakes. He… he was gone.

As if responding to his tears, the sky opened up, letting down a rain of its own.

"Agumon."

Marcus slowly stood up, facing his foe once more.

"You've made a huge mistake, you giant chicken! I'm gonna beat you so hard, there won't be nothing left!"

The chicken's tail feathers glowed, and it crowed in challenge. Marcus ran forwards faster than he had ever ran, dodging the lasers, and jumped, all the way up to its face. He landed a single, powerful blow that knocked it over.

Suddenly, his body began to glow with orange energy. He felt powerful.

"Hey!" said a voice from behind. It was an old man with a fishing pole.

"Get back, old man!" screamed Marcus. "This is dangerous!" The old man tried to protest, but Marcus didn't care. "Go! Get out of here! I've got this!"

The energy flowed through him. He felt it coursing through his very being. And he knew, somehow, that it wasn't truly his- it was taken from his foe, stolen somehow.

That didn't matter. All that mattered was frying that chicken, and Agumon. Suddenly, as if responding to his thoughts, Agumon cried out.

"Marcus!"

Marcus rushed over to his side. The yellow dinosaur looked so frail, but he was alive. That was all that mattered.

"Agumon! You're okay!"

"Yeah. I'm not dead yet. After all, who else would keep up with you?"

Marcus couldn't help but laugh, and embraced his friend. The energy flowed between them, strengthened in their friendship.

And Agumon began to change.

His body grew, lengthening and shifting, and letting out a light so bright it blinded all who looked. The red energy flowed over him, changing his form. What emerged was not a T-Rex, but an elongated, feathery thing easily as big as the chicken, covered in scales and tipped with white feathers.

"Marcus…" said Agumon, his voice deeper.

"Agumon…"

"No, not Agumon. I've digivolved. I'm Velocimon!"

Velocimon bellowed, and Marcus jumped on. The two charged forwards, blurring out of the way of the Chicken's lasers- Velocimon was insanely fast, easily dodging everything their foe threw at them. Marcus leapt forwards, knocking their foe back, and Velocimon's feathers glowed with a bright light before releasing a laser of his own, far more powerful than the chicken's. Their foe's form shrank into pixels, leaving behind nothing but an egg.

"That'll teach ya!" cried Marcus. "That'll teach you to mess with us!"

As Marcus looked up and behind him towards Velocimon, he noticed only empty air- until Agumon cried out for him, his stomach growling.

"Hey, Marcus, I'm hungry."

Marcus couldn't help but give a wry smile. "What else is new? I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks."

* * *

The entirety of DATS openly gaped at what had just happened. Marcus had achieved partner digivolution without a digivice, and, from the looks of things, by directly stealing digital code from his foe through a punch.

This was entirely unprecedented. This boy had not only achieved in seconds what most took years to accomplish, both in taming a digimon and achieving digivolution,, but had done so in a way no one had even considered.

There was no way in hell they were letting him slip through their fingers.

* * *

The sun rose above Marcus, Agumon, and Yoshino. Marcus and Agumon bantered about food for a bit, but then he noticed Yoshie picking up the egg.

"Hey, where do you think you're taking that?" asked Marcus.

"To DATS headquarters, so it can be contained and sent back to the digital world if necessary," replied Yoshino.

"I don't think so. You guys would just keep it in a cage, then send it back to the jungle. I'm taking it. I'll give it a nice home to grow up in, take care of it."

"Please, like I could trust you to take care of _two_ digimon. Unless, of course, you'd be willing to join DATS. I know you don't trust us, but you'd still have full control over its well-being; we'd just be monitoring it, in case it turns out to be dangerous. Plus, you'd be helping us stop other dangerous digimon. Kokatorimon was destructive, but it's not the only one that causes havoc in our world."

Marcus hesitated. That is, until Yoshie continued.

"Also, you'd be fighting tons of strong digimon. You said so yourself that no human could challenge you, right?"

Marcus couldn't help but grin.


	2. Chapter 2

The doors to the DATS main control room opened, Yoshino, Marcus, Lalamon, and Agumon walking through it. Marcus kept a tight hold on the digiegg, refusing to let it out of his grip, both out of fear of it being sent back to the digital world and out of a desire to see it grow up strong and happy. Sampson eyed it and Marcus carefully, but Marcus wasn't afraid to stare back. One of the digimon working there, a digimon resembling a white chess piece, tried to take it, but Marcus refused.

"You know," said Yoshie, "You don't really have the necessary equipment to raise a digimon. I know you want to keep it safe, but we can take care of it for you. Like I told you, you can make sure it's fine whenever you want, but we need to monitor it."

"Please, like I'd trust you after what you pulled," Marcus replied. "You guys are a secretive organization dedicated to making sure no one actually knows Digimon exist. For all I know, you're lying to make me give it up, and to make me let Agumon stay here. No way. Agumon is well-behaved, and we have some old dog training stuff at home. If this little guy or girl gets rowdy, I'll just keep 'em penned up until they stop attacking. I only came here to make sure you weren't trying to fool me or anything, and that you didn't just try and kidnap Agumon and the egg while I was at home."

"Only a fool walks into a trap," said Kudamon.

"It's only a trap if it can catch you. You all saw me knock around that giant bird," said Marcus. "I ain't afraid of you."

Even Sampson couldn't help but agree with him. He would have to be very careful when dealing with this young man, or else risk his entire organization's lives.

"Now, what's this about 'special digimon food'?" asked Marcus.

The DATS agents all looked at him in confusion, save for Yoshino's look of fear.

"There is no such thing as special digimon food," said Sampson. "They'll eat just about anything we do, and then some."

Marcus gave Yoshino a long glare before promptly turning around and leaving. Before he left, however, Sampson called out to him:

"I'll be keeping you on payroll. We'll call you in whenever there's an incident." Marcus looked him in the eyes and nodded before going on his way.

As he left, those who remained let out a collective sigh of relief at the tension they hadn't noticed building in their chests.

"So why did he think digimon ate special food, Yoshino?"

* * *

Marcus and Agumon slowly made their way home- Marcus had found two large cardboard boxes to carry Agumon and the egg in to avoid anyone freaking out, and, although he was strong, Agumon was still pretty heavy for one hand.

However, they had finally made their way to Marcus's home, where the two were sitting in Marcus's room, the egg bundled up in his spare sheets. Agumon was eating various snacks, talking about how he really enjoyed them, and Marcus muttered to himself about 'special digimon food'. Suddenly, a woman's voice echoed out from the front entrance-

"Marcus, are you home?"

Marcus immediately grabbed Agumon and shoved him inside his closet, telling him to keep quiet. The woman then opened his door, revealing green eyes and curly brown hair.

"Hi."

"Oh, hi, mom! What's going on?"

"Well, you're busted, that's what's going on! Fess up, while you were out getting into trouble, I stayed up all night worried sick! Now, where were you?"

"Heh, what trouble? Come on mom, you know I can handle anything, and besides, I've never even broken the law! It's always self-defense, or protecting another."

"Marcus," said his mother sternly, looking down.

"Yeah, mom?"

"You're stepping on a candy bar. I know you missed a few meals, but that's no excuse to eat nothing but garbage."

"I know, I know, but I was really busy! I actually got a job believe it or not, but they wanted me to do a trial run first. I didn't get a chance to eat or contact you, it's a gig as a security guard from a temp agency. I get called in when some company needs me."

"Well, I'm glad you managed to find a job as long as it doesn't interfere with your schoolwork. Still, you could have told me."

"Sorry, mom. It all happened so fast, one of their managers saw me beat up a bunch of punks who were threatening me and offered me the job after a bunch of background checks and stuff."

"Alright. In the future, let me know when you have a shift, okay?"

"Will do, mom."

With that, Marcus's mother left his room, and Agumon came tumbling out of his closet with a small cry.

"Why do you keep shoving me into small places?" he demanded.

"Because if anyone sees you, they'll freak out. DATS will think you're attacking people, and you'll get sent back to the digital world. Until I can figure out who we can trust, you'll need to stay hidden. I know you wanted your freedom, but living here is risky."

Agumon couldn't really argue with that, but he still managed to let out an upset snort.

Suddenly, Marcus's mother opened the door.

"Marcus, I heard talking, who's…" she trailed off upon seeing Agumon.

"I knew you took after your father, but I never thought you'd get mixed up in all this, too."

Marcus blinked once, his mind stalling.

"Wait, what about dad?"

"Come on, let's go to the living room. We'll all want to sit down for this, I think."

* * *

In the living room, Marcus and Agumon were sitting on the couch, while Sarah, Marcus's mother, sat in an armchair.

"So, mom, what's all this about?" asked Marcus. "How do you know about Digimon, and what does dad have to do with it?"

"Well, first of all, your father wasn't… he wasn't from our reality," began Sarah Damon. Marcus's face scrunched up in confusion.

"The Digital World is a parallel universe to ours, one that's built on what we consider computer code instead of atoms. Because of that, it's incredibly easy for a skilled programmer, and the digimon themselves, to create gates into other worlds, especially other digital worlds which border other realities. The digital world is normally attached to a world like ours, and is influenced by it. Your father was, in his native dimension, summoned to his world's digital world to save it. And he did, with some help from digimon and other humans. But, over the years, he began to wander between the digital worlds, seeking new challenges and people to help. He had quite a few adventures over the years, but eventually he decided to go home.

"But he had spent so long traveling, he no longer knew where his home was; he eventually managed to make his way here, and took the name of Spencer Damon before settling down. We fell in love, and he told me about his history and all he had done. I didn't believe him at first, but then he showed me his digimon partner, and a secret government organization dedicated to preventing digimon from harming humans, one that he helped create. The Digital Accident Tactical Squad, also known as DATS. His 'business trips' were actually in the digital world, where he studied its workings, talked with its inhabitants, and generally went on adventures.

"But one day, he disappeared. Even Sampson, the commander of DATS, couldn't find him or his partner. And now, here you are, with a digimon."

Marcus took a few moments to process all he had heard. It was a lot to take in- his father was an interdimensional alien, had a digimon partner, and had saved multiple digital worlds.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Because your father was constantly running headfirst into danger, and you were always headstrong. We didn't want you to hurt yourself chasing after him."

"What was his partner?"

"His partner was a Veedramon, a blue dinosaur with white markings, horns, and claws.

"Marcus, I need you to promise me you won't go chasing after him," his mother said with a sob. "I can't lose you. I've already lost your father, I can't lose you too!"

Marcus stood up and walked over to his mother before pulling her into the biggest hug he could without hurting her.

"I promise, that won't happen."

The two stood there for a moment before Marcus spoke up.

"But, as long as you know about digimon, I have to tell you something. I didn't actually get a job as a security guard. I found Agumon after he ran away from DATS, and they came after us. I defended him because he's a cool guy who didn't actually do anything wrong, and they kinda strongarmed me into joining them. Also, I've got a digiegg in my room. We should probably keep an eye on that."

His mother couldn't help but smile.

"You really are just like your father, aren't you? Come on, let's go check up on it. I helped out your father a few times, I know what to look for."

With that, the two went back upstairs. There, in Marcus's room, was a tiny little ball covered in feathers, with two giant eyes and a black crest right above them. A little girl was playing with it and showering it in affection, and it clearly loved the attention.

"Kristy!" yelled Marcus. "Are you okay? And what are you doing in my room?!"

"I was watering the plants, and I saw a bright light come from your room! Then this little guy was there, and I made sure he was okay."

Marcus couldn't help but feel smug that he was right, and happy for the little digimon that had found a good home.


	3. Chapter 3

It was breakfast in the Damon household, and Marcus, Kristy, Agumon, and the newest addition to the family were enjoying a meal of eggs and rice. Marcus normally at least tried to remain polite at the table, and Kristy knew her table manners, but Agumon and the little puffball were chowing down. Kristy was clearly upset, but Sarah could tell that Agumon had little choice thanks to his giant claws and maw, while little Puwamon was only a baby.

It felt nice to have some connection to her late husband in the house, both through the digimon and through their children's friendship with them. Though she had to admit, the food bill would once again go up quite a bit. Digimon may be cute when small, but they ate a lot.

In fact, now that she thought about it, Marcus himself ate as much as Agumon.

Something to think about later. Her boys needed feeding.

* * *

Marcus was taking his afternoon run when his pocket started beeping. Inside it was an earpiece, one he didn't remember having. Still, considering the colors, he figured he knew who it was from. Placing it in one ear and pressing the various buttons, he eventually answered it, with one of the DATS operators on the line.

"Marcus, there are signs of digimon near you," she said. "Area C-7. Scanners suggest it's a low-power digimon, but stay on guard."

"Got it! Just one question… what's area C-7?"

"It's the shopping district north of your position," the operator said with a sigh.

"Understood."

* * *

Three men were sitting around a small magazine kiosk, complaining about being bored. A voice echoed out from nearby in agreement, and the three waited a moment before realizing that none of them had said it. The voice then started cackling, and a nearby piece of cardboard lit on fire before expelling a ball of flame with a face, which flew off and lit everything vaguely flammable on fire.

"Dude, I think that weed had some other shit in it," said the blonde one.

"Hey, I grew that stuff myself. It's pure cannabis, bro," said the one with the cross necklace.

"Then pass the blunt, man! I wanna see dragons," said the one with glasses.

Then Marcus and Agumon arrived on the scene, running in the Digimon's general direction.

"Nevermind, dude."

The DemiMeramon started slinging fireballs, which Marcus weaved around. Agumon let loose a Pepper Breath, but the DemiMeramon didn't even flinch. Marcus tried to punch it, but his fists passed right through it.

"It's not solid enough to land a blow, and fire doesn't effect it. I don't think we can actually fight this one, Agumon."

"But Marcus, it's starting fires! If we don't chase after it, who knows what it'll do next?"

Marcus just grunted and chased after it, the living fireball flitting out of his reach every time he got close.

The trio of men lazing around just blinked at the digimon and Marcus as they ran off.

"Whatever you did with that weed, dude, don't stop."

A man with blonde hair and wearing a blue-and-white outfit walked up to them, his hand in a pocket, but ultimately left them alone.

* * *

Marcus was sitting in a chair in the DATS headquarters, having herded the DemiMeramon back to the base, where Lalamon was able to dispatch it with a seed blast.

"I can't believe I couldn't even handle one little digimon…" muttered Marcus. "We couldn't even touch it!"

"Don't worry, Marcus," said Yoshie with a vicious smirk. "So what if you couldn't handle a DemiMeramon? It's not like you've kicked around digimon several times more powerful than that one."

"So, this is the newest agent," said a voice from the doorway. Standing there was a blonde-haired youth in the standard DATS jumpsuit.

Suddenly, the two operators began squealing in delight before swarming the newcomer. "Thomas is back!"

"When did you get in?"

"This is _such_ a pleasant surprise!"

The two kept on giggling and flirting with him, while Marcus and Agumon looked on in confusion. Then Agumon noticed a blue dog-like digimon walking up behind him, and greeted him. But the other digimon merely grunted and kept walking.

"Jeez, I try to be nice and he just ignores me. See if I ever get _him_ a birthday present."

Marcus stood up from his seat and looked Thomas in the eye, staring both in challenge and acknowledgement of another DATS agent.

"I've never seen you before. How come?" But Thomas ignored him and walked towards Sampson, saluting.

"Commander Sampson, sir! Thomas H. Norstein. I arrived today from DATS Austria, ready to report for duty!"

"It's good to have you here," said Sampson.

"I've spent most of my flight reading your most recent reports. It seems there have been an unusually high number of digimon in the area."

In the background, Megumi and Miki continued giggling and complimenting him.

"Hmm…" said Sampson. "Do you think these numbers could present a problem? Or perhaps indicate that digimon can somehow more easily breach the gap between our worlds?"

"I doubt it would be much of an issue, given that Yoshino and myself are here. And the new agent, Marcus Damon, will be very useful for defeating high-level digimon given time, although he appears to be rather volatile. I suggest he be memory-wiped and his digimon partner sent through the gate, in order to prevent him from harming us in the future."

"I understand you have doubts about him, Thomas, but understand this: Marcus is the son of the late Spencer Damon, and has shown incredible ability both on his own and with a Digimon partner. I will not allow such a promising agent to be removed until he actively harms our organization. He may object to our methods, but those objections do not stop our true goal: protecting the population from hostile Digimon. We will allow him to determine whether or not Digimon can be successfully integrated into human society, with DATS supervision to ensure that any threats these trials may pose are stopped.

"Marcus, I apologize for speaking about you like you weren't here. This is Thomas, a senior member of DATS. He was transferred to Austria six months ago in order to set up their computer systems and digital dive, as well as helping take out a swarm of digimon in the sewers. They thankfully stayed in the sewers, but they were attacking sanitation workers and damaging various equipment."

"And Gaomon, Thomas's digimon partner, is an unrivaled combatant," said Kudamon. "Together, they are capable of taking out extremely powerful digimon through expert strategy and combat skills."

"I don't care what he's done!" yelled Marcus. "He's just another toady who thinks he's better than everyone else and can get away with anything. He's a pompous jerk! He said that you should wipe my freaking mind and send Agumon back to the digital world right in front of me!"

"Because you and your partner are rogue elements with no discipline or obedience," replied Thomas. "You're only working with us because Sampson thinks you can be of use. He's clearly blinded by your connection to Spencer Damon, and putting up with behavior he would never tolerate in anyone else."

"I suggest you shut up. Now. Before you make me angry."

"I don't fear you. You're nothing more than a common thug with dreams of nobility."

Marcus threw the first punch. Thomas caught it, along with the second one, but Marcus did not relent- he continued to attack, throwing punches and kicks, faster and stronger with each one blocked or deflected. Thomas weaved around them, but it soon became clear that Marcus was too much for him- the blows became quicker and quicker, until, finally, Thomas took a roundhouse kick to the face.

He spat out a glob of blood and saliva, and Marcus simply smirked.

"If I'm just a thug with dreams of nobility, you're a pompous windbag who's only wanted because you're useful. The minute you're no longer needed, you'll be all alone, with no real friends. I may be a thug, but I'm a thug with a family who loves me and a best friend who's my equal in every way."

Thomas didn't say a word- he just glared in rage and indignation. Miki and Megumi cried out, but Marcus didn't care.

Suddenly, the alarm began to blare. "Demimeramon detected! There are multiple! They are currently in the dozens, but the numbers could quickly grow even more if left unchecked!"

Thomas ran out the doors as soon as he could, going off to take care of the digimon. Marcus tried to follow, but Sampson ordered him to stop; Marcus still tried to run after, but Yoshi held him down.

At least, until the alarms blared and more Demimeramon were detected near a group of oil tanks, used to hold imported oil.

Marcus broke free, and he and Agumon ran out.

"I can't believe that guy!" said Yoshie. "And here I thought he was a good person…"

"So fighting against someone who insulted you so direly makes you a bad person?" asked Sampson. "Marcus may have acted rashly, but Thomas had no right talking about him like that. He may be our best operative, but he is arrogant, and looks down upon others. Marcus will teach him to get his head out of his own behind, to speak plainly."

* * *

At the docks, Marcus and Agumon found a small swarm of Demimeramon flying about.

"Agumon, use your spitfire blast!" he shouted.

"But that doesn't work!" Agumon shouted back.

"Just trust me! I have an idea!"

Agumon relented, and used his attack.

And kept using his Spitfire Blast, as Marcus kept telling him to do. The Demimeramon they targeted grew larger, then absorbed all the others. It grew from a fireball to a man-shaped digimon of fire, the size of a giant- Meramon.

As it reached forwards to attack, Marcus leapt forth, landing a solid strike on its jaw.

"Just like I thought," he said.

As the Meramon crashed back, Marcus's fist blazed with digital fire that quickly spread over him, and caught Agumon in its blaze.

Agumon's form grew, his body elongating. But instead of growing the white feathers of Velocimon, he grew tall, becoming upright and a bright, blazing orange. His body was covered in spikes and spines, and his eyes glowed a brilliant orange.

"Wait, that's not Velocimon!" yelled Marcus.

"No, I'm not. I'm Blazemon!" cried Marcus's partner. Yoshie and Thomas stepped out of their car, having arrived just a moment ago.

"Wait, did Agumon just digivolve into a different Champion form?" asked Yoshie.

"Yes, he did," replied Thomas. "I suspect that Marcus's digisoul is not entirely his own."

"What are you saying?"

"That he gains a digisoul charge not from fighting, but from his opponent."

Blazemon ran forwards with a cry, striking with a clawed fist. Meramon reeled back, and Blazemon kept going, wailing on his opponent. The wild digimon lay down, but Marcus's partner didn't stop there- his spines started to glow, and he let out a beam of energy from his mouth. "Mega Burst!" he cried.

All that remained of his foe were three digieggs, which Marcus and Agumon gathered together. Thomas tried to take one, but Marcus gave him a glare, and he backed off.

* * *

Back at headquarters, the three agents were reporting back in. Then Marcus and Thomas began to insult each other again, and Sampson knew he had to nip this in the bud.

"Stop! Marcus, Thomas, from now on, you two are partners!"

"But he's completely undisciplined!" cried Thomas.

"But he's a jackass!" cried Marcus.

"That is an order!" yelled Sampson. "I know you two don't like one another, but you are both DATS agents, and you need to work together."

Thomas was the one who stormed out, this time. Marcus just held his head and groaned.


	4. Chapter 4

Marcus, Thomas, and their digimon partners approached a damaged building- its front windows were shattered, various decorations and plants were broken and toppled over, and slime was everywhere.

"It's probably inside," said Marcus.

" _Wow_ , nothing gets past _you_ , does it, Marcus?" said Thomas with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't you start!" chided Yoshie.

As the three followed the trail of slime to the basement, Thomas began sharing his plan.

"Numemon are weak champion-level Digimon, and will only flee after their opponent has proven to be stronger than them. As there is only one, we can easily catch it off guard by hitting it with our most powerful moves the moment we find it."

"You and Gaomon were able to beat tons of them back in Austria, so they aren't exactly strong. If this one sees three digimon coming for it at the same time, it'll run, and we'll be back to square one. We need to box him in before going on the offensive," Marcus countered.

Once again, the two butted heads. Yoshie had to forcibly separate them and come to a compromise- they box it in before it notices them, _then_ go for an all-out first strike.

As Yoshino and Lalamon guarded the entrances, Marcus and Thomas went down.

The Numemon proved especially hard to track- the sheer number of crossed trails and slime-covered walls made it hard to tell which way it was going. Thankfully, Agumon's keen ears managed to catch a single wheeze- they shadowed it as best they could.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Gaomon had managed to track its movements, and set up an ambush behind a corner. Right as the Numemon approached them, Gaomon flew forwards, a whirlwind of fists. But the Numemon dodged quickly, and Agumon's Pepper Breath hit the canine digimon.

"Damn it, the Numemon is too fast!" cried Thomas.

"You should have waited until it was closer if you weren't gonna blast him!" argued Marcus.

"Stop arguing and go after it!" cried Yoshie over the comms.

But from behind a machine leapt the Numemon, which began throwing balls of its own slime (among other things) at them. The four quickly began to dodge and weave, doing their best not to get hit, when Lalamon made herself known with a Seed Blast. The Numemon was stunned for a split second, and that was all the time Marcus needed- he and Agumon went for each of its eyes. Marcus swore he felt them splatter, but the Numemon transformed into a digi-egg, leaving behind only the slime and waste it had thrown around.

"You all would be lost without me," chided Yoshie.

"Please, Gaomon and I could have accomplished this far more easily without any of you. It only got us because Agumon blasted Gaomon," said Thomas.

"Please! You and Gaomon would have never gotten this far without us! You couldn't even touch it!" argued Marcus.

"Gaomon and I have defeated more Numemon than you can count!"

"And Agumon and I have beaten you! So what does that say about us, huh?"

"Agumon never fought Gaomon!"

"Yeah, but Agumon is just as strong as me, and I went easy on you!"

"Please, you just got lucky! I don't normally fight street brawlers, you caught me off guard by overextending a punch!"

"'Street Brawler'? I use a mixed martial arts style based in Karate and Taikwando! You only know how to box!"

"I am trained in countless combat styles, from Ninjitsu to Krav Maga! You wind up your swings like an amateur!"

"And did I actually hit you with any of those? No! Because they're distractions for my next punch or kick!"

"Stop with the measuring contest and let's go, you two! God, it's like I'm babysitting all over again," cried Yoshie.

* * *

Later that evening, Thomas had given Marcus a ride home in his limo.

"Listen, thanks for the ride home, okay?" said Marcus.

"Well don't thank me. I just did it because the commander ordered me to. He's probably hoping we'll get along if we spend time together. Like that would ever happen," retorted Thomas.

And then Kristy came running up the road with a few groceries.

"Wow, what a cool car! You didn't tell me that DATS was so fancy!"

"Go inside, Kristy," said Marcus. "This is just a coworker of mine. He's a jerk. He wouldn't even be here if our boss hadn't made him."

"Oh come on, if he was really that much of a jerk, he wouldn't have bothered taking you home. He would have dumped you out on the street and said you were just trying to make him look bad when you complained," said Kristy.

"Gah, why didn't I think of that?" cried Thomas.

"Because you're not as smart as you think you are," said Marcus.

Despite Marcus trying to make her go inside, Kristy stayed. And then Puwamon divebombed his face, and he was left writhing on the ground trying to get it off.

"I'm Kristy. Would you like to join us for dinner? Mom is making tea!"

Marcus's mother soon came out, further extending the offer of tea and dinner. Marcus tried to stop her, but the face full of purring fuzz that growled whenever he tried to pull it off made that difficult.

A wave of pain crashed over Thomas. The sight of a happy family, of people showing him genuine kindness solely because he was a person, and not because he was rich or attractive or powerful… it reminded him of something he thought he had left behind long ago.

"I'm sorry, but I must be going," he managed to utter before rolling up the window.

"He seems nice," said Sarah.

"Only because you don't know him," retorted Marcus, having finally managed to pull Puwamon off of his face by lulling it into a false sense of security through petting.

"Please," said Kristy, "you two are best friends, if not more."

" **WHAT**?!" screamed Marcus.

"You fight with everyone you care about, and you care about everyone you fight. For you to fight with someone that much means you really like him."

"I do not!"

"See? You're only proving my point!"

"Gah!"

* * *

Later that night, as Thomas sat in front of his computer, he couldn't get any work done. His mind kept going back to the Damons, and to his own family.

"How long have I been alone…?" he asked himself.

Gaomon stood in a corner, unable to provide any comfort. Their relationship was strictly professional- and he couldn't help but wonder if that was what Thomas really wanted.


End file.
